Lately, I've heard the sentiment quite a few times that it's hard to believe in a God you can't see, a God you cannot prove exists.

So I began thinking about the major evidences and reasons for believing in God--and the alternatives to believing in God.

I would agree that belief in God is not something that can be proven scientifically, (that is the domain of math and repeatable, observable science.) (The definition of the word "science" makes the theory of evolution scientifically unprovable: not an observable nor repeatable fact.)

But it also seems a very plain fact that those who believe in other explanations for man and the world he lives in, also do so by faith, and without proof.

Creation is the first evidence of God. Those without belief in God have a formidable philosophical task ahead of them in explaining what was the first cause, from whence came the design, the purpose and the drive for life to arise. (We all know that we did not design our own bodies and brains when we were in the womb--so who or what did? Our mothers didn't concentrate hard to design and build us, either.) Even if a person believes that there is not a powerful intelligent Being behind it all, he still has a gigantic philosophical/religious (not scientific!) problem to solve.

The second evidence of God is the universal moral law. Every group of humans in every society and every individual person has an innate sense of right and wrong that is more than a culturally instilled teaching. Little children who are sexually molested know that what is being done to them is wrong--how do they know this?

The third evidence of God gets more specific: it is the historical record of the people of God, and the fulfilled Old Testament prophecies of Jesus the Messiah. We also have the history just 2,000 years ago of the life, death and resurrection of
the Lord Jesus Christ and the people who were motivated to give their lives to attest to the truth of Jesus' life and death and resurrection. I do not believe anyone would die for something he knew to be false.

So, we have the evidence of creation (intelligent design), the evidence of inborn moral conscience, and the evidence of Scripture and history.

We have the glory of Jesus' goodness, love, beauty, truth and power.

We could also add the mystery of consciousness and the immateriality of the soul.

So let's say a person becomes convinced of God's existence, and even that that God is the God of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, David, Isaiah and all of the prophets and apostles. That God is the Triune God. That Jesus Christ is God and the Son of God, fully human and fully divine, and that this Savior was crucified for our sin and resurrected for our salvation.

Are there any other evidences of God, any other ways to experience the evidences of God, or maybe even experience God Himself, personally?

The Bible says that there is a way to do this.

A person can be saved and destined for Heaven, and still not have much of a daily experiential spiritual relationship with God.

A person can be saved and warm a church pew for 30 or 40 years and still not experience fellowship relationship with God, or a deeply changed life. Why is this?

My own view is that many people expect a one hour weekly church service to be their entire spiritual experience.

The key to a lively spiritual life, the key to knowing God and fellowshipping with Him and receiving answers to prayer, however, can largely be found in a short list of things that God tells us to do.

The first thing is to obey God--this is what the Bible says is the key to having an experienceable relationship with God in our spirits and souls.

When we, as believers saved by grace, seek to progressively do the will of God, in grace, a life-transformation and sanctification (becoming truly good) and a spiritual fellowship and knowing of God begin to result.

Another thing that helps to know God is a personal daily prayer life.

Reading, knowing and believing God's Word also helps toward knowing God--but only if it is done with a humble heart, an awareness of grace, and a desire to obey God's will for our lives.

Loving God, others, and ourselves with the love He gives us also deepens our relationship and our life with God.

Confessing our sins to God and other Christians allows us to continue walking in God's wonderful light: fellowship with Him.

Forgiving everyone of everything, including ourselves, is absolutely essential to the freedom of our souls. Freedom of the soul absolutely cannot be had without forgiveness.

Living in an awareness of God's unconditional grace and love in Christ, His constant forgiveness, His unalterable guarantee of Heaven, and His imminent return to earth, all help us to grow.

There may be other practices that help us to experience a fellowship relationship with God, but these are the main ones that come to mind.

If we do these things, we will develop a knowing and feeling heart relationship with God, not just a doctrinal and intellectual faith that does not transform our lives nor draw us into an experienceable, loving and blessed spiritual relationship with Him.